Tombstone
Born: November 7, 1996 – The Canton-Akron Indians re-branded as the Akron Aeros
Re-Branded: October 29, 2013 (Akron RubberDucks)
First Game: April 4, 1997 (L 2-1 @ Bowie Baysox)
Last Game: September 2, 2013 (W 4-2 @ Altoona Curve)
Eastern League Champions: 2003, 2005, 2009 & 2012
Stadium
Canal Park
Opened: 1997
Marketing
Mascots:
- 1997-2013: Orbit (the Space Cat)
- 2011-2013: Homer (the Pigeon)
Ownership & Affiliation
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Background
Mike Agganis purchased his double-A Eastern League franchise for a reported $48,000 in 1981. Over the next 30+ years, the Boston real estate developer would move his club three times, first to Burlington, Vermont (1984), then Canton, Ohio (1989) and finally to brand new $31 million Canal Park in Akron in 1997. During that era, he watched the value of his minor league franchise soar into the millions of dollars.
Agganis’ formal arrival in Akron got off to a grim start in October 1996. As his Canton-Akron Indians wound down their final lame duck season at Canton’s Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in 1996, the club decided to choose a new name to coincide with its move to Canal Park in the spring of 1997. As a “tribute” to Ohio’s contributions to aerospace innovations, Agganis announced the team’s new name would be the Akron Blast. The mascot would be a feline astronaut called “Kaboom”. The owner cited Ohio natives the Wright Brothers, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and Judith Resnik as inspirations for the re-branding effort. It was Akron native Resnik’s story that sparked the local backlash against the Blast name. Ten years earlier, Resnik was one of seven crew members killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on national television on January 28, 1986.
Agganis capitulated to public pressure announced a community phone poll to choose a new name from a list of three finalists. The Aeros (8,193 votes) beat out the Spirit (7,361) and the Quest (2,320) on November 7, 1996. (The club’s astro-cat mascot concept survived. A local 9-year old dubbed him “Orbit” in a contest for local school children).
On Field Success
The Aeros would remain a Cleveland Indians farm club for their entire 17 season existence. For the first five seasons after Canal Park opened in 1997, the Aeros led the Eastern League in attendance with over 7,000 fans per game on average.
The club was also terrific on the diamond. The Aeros won seven division titles in 17 seasons and four Eastern League crowns. They appeared in the Eastern League Championship Series for five straight summers from 2005 to 2009.
The End
By 2010, Aeros’ annual attendance was down to 3,791 per game. The figures were less than half of Akron’s late 1990’s peak and ranked just 9th in the Eastern League.
In October 2012 Mike Agganis sold the Aeros for an unreported sum to 32-year old Ken Babby, a former Washington Post senior executive and son of NBA player agent Lon Babby. After operating under the Aeros name for one additional summer in 2013, Babby’s regime announced the team would be re-branded as the Akron RubberDucks for the 2014 Eastern League season.
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Links
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